An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In bonus part 8 you learn how to create a parallax effect for the 2D scrolling background.
Depending on the distance, the different parts of the background move with a different speed. With the iExpressions rig shown in this part, you only need to move one background layer manually and all other elements follow automatically with a speed that depends on their distance.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 7 add more realism to our character with secondary animations. We addd a little bit of random motion since in real life people never stand 100% still. Also, we animate her chest to simulate some breathing and make her hair swing a bit when she is walking.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 6 we extend the rig for our baby buggy such that the buggy wiggles automatically when it is moving.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 5 we create the rotating wheels of the baby buggy. They rotate automatically when you move the character. And even the highlights on the spokes fade in and out naturally when the wheels are rotating.

Fun spot using PuppetTools by Adel Sanoussi

Excellent character design and animation by Superfiction

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 4 you learn all about Zorro, the layer tagger. This tool is very helpful, whenever you have an After Effects project with lots of layers.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 3, we create an automated walk cycle with iExpressions. You just need to keyframe the position of the character and the iExpressions-based rig animates the legs and the body automatically such that the character is walking.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 2, we connect the skeleton to our character using the puppet tool. You learn the basics, but also some advanced tips for this workflow. For example, you learn how to achieve that puppet pins on the skirt of the character are influenced by the bones of both legs simultaneously.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more. 

In part 1, create a skeleton for our character with the inverse kinematics iExpressions. The skeleton is the basis for all subsequent animation.

Totally bad-ass cel character animation on tracked live footage by The Line

Very nice character animation using PuppetTools and other aescripts tools by Kasra Design

Super fun tutorial/animation of creating a walk cycle using motion sketch by Animade

Fantastic character design and animation from Buck directed by aescripts playground creator Ariel Costa

Great style and character animation on this spot by Cub Studio

This short tutorial by Samplistic Media shows a smart and elegant solution that makes the power of lipsyncr accessible inside Cinema 4D.

Incredible behind the scenes look at how the Angry Birds animations are done using scripts and expressions in After Effects.

Fantastic character animation by Greg Gunn for Method/Virgin America

Great characters animated using PuppetTools by Ryan Troy Ford